Rahul Kumar has more than 11 years of experience in public transit. Starting as a procurement manager for Foothill Transit in West Covina, Calif., the only privately managed operation to be recognized in the Congressional Federal Registrar as an example of a true public-private partnership, he has continued in the industry sitting on all sides of the table.
Kumar's career advanced from procurement into planning and soon he was selected to serve as the youngest director of Planning for a major system in Southern California. In this role, Kumar managed an annual operations and service budget of more than $80 million and developed service plans for the system's 15 million annual passengers. The experience enabled hime to venture into consulting, spending three years working with various clients before rejoining Veolia Transportation.
As vice president of Business Development for North America, Kumar leads his Business Development team tasked with growing Veolia's business by $100 million in 2012. His major responsibilities include renewals/extensions of 150 North American contracts and developing and maintaining Veolia's business development strategy for fixed-route and paratransit business in North America.
Kumar retained and developed more than $40 million of business; expanded the successful public-private operating partnership program that began at Foothill Transit and has continued to Savannah, New Orleans and Long Island, N.Y.; developed BRT services in suburban Los Angeles and South Florida and Northern California; and worked closely with various agencies around the country to develop fare restructuring plans designed to minimize the impact to those transit dependent customers and maximize revenue, all while preventing ridership loss.
Kumar developed a plan for the NICE bus system in Long Island, N.Y., saving the agency more than $8 million annually, and resulting in almost no perceptible ridership loss. He also developed a service plan for Chatham Area Transit resulting in a 20 percent improvement in overall on-time performance and up to a 14 percent increase in ridership on the system's key lines.
Kumar served as president of his local Rotary International chapter from 2006-2008. He also works with seniors in his community to help them with their transportation needs and routinely volunteers for the ASPCA and National Public Radio.
Community Service
"I enjoy the fast pace of my job and the ability to truly meet the needs of the commuting public."
"It feels like an excellent form of community service. I believe that this industry truly makes a difference in people's lives and the sustainability of the planet."
A Career Built on Experiences
"My career has been built on a series of experiences, one of the most recent was when we recently took over a contract from a public provider: They had eliminated service to a local hospital for cost concerns. One of the first things we did when we took over the operation was restore the service. A passenger, who happened to be pregnant and unable to afford either a car or even a taxi called me the second day of operation and said that this was the only way she could get to the hospital that day and because of the service she knows that her baby will be happy and healthy."
Public-Private Partnerships
"A sharper edge. We know we need to find ways to do more with less, and the only way to do so is to innovate. This industry must lead the way in public-private partnerships in not only capital but also operations."
Outside the Office
"If I can spare the time away from work and my family and my dogs, I enjoy walking all over a golf course trying to find my ball. (In other words, trying to play golf.)"
